Death of Indigenous teen found on rail tracks with towel under head ‘suspicious’, NSW coroner says

Don Craigie, the uncle of Mark Haines, on the railway tracks outside Tamworth where his nephew died in 1988. Photograph: Simon Scott/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Don Craigie, the uncle of Mark Haines, on the railway tracks outside Tamworth where his nephew died in 1988. Photograph: Simon Scott/The Guardian Death of Indigenous teen found on rail tracks with towel under head ‘suspicious’, NSW coroner says Police initially ruled Mark Haines’ 1988 death a suicide but coroner says investigation hindered by racism and deeply flawed Warning: This article contains images of and references to Indigenous Australians who have died Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The police investigation into the death of Indigenous teenager Mark Haines in northern New South Wales nearly four decades ago was hindered by racism and deeply flawed, a coroner has found. The body of the Gomeroi teenager was discovered on train tracks outside Tamworth on the morning of 16 January 1988. A stolen Holden Torana was found crashed nearby. Police initially ruled that the 17-year-old had laid down on the tracks either deliberately or in a dazed state, while an autopsy determined he died from a traumatic head injury. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email His family long suspected foul play and believed the police investigation would have been different if Mark was non-Indigenous. After a smoking ceremony on the steps of Tamworth court house on Thursday morning, the deputy state coroner, Harriet Grahame, found there were serious problems with the initial police investigation. Mark’s death was quickly ruled a suicide and his body was moved soon after it was discovered, while the car and train were not forensically tested, she said. Mark Haines coronial inquiry: police would have ‘turned that train over’ if the teen had been non-Indigenous, uncle says Read more “I accept that the initial investigation into Mark’s death was deeply flawed, superficial and inadequate from the outset,” Grahame told the court. While there were other factors at play, Grahame said the investigation took place against the backdrop of deeply entrenched racism in Tamworth and regional NSW at the time. “I find it inconceivable that such a superficial investigation would have taken place … had a young white teenager from the right side of town been found on the train tracks in similar circumstances,” she told the court. View image in fullscreen Don Craigie and NSW deputy state coroner Harriet Grahame at a smoking ceremony outside Tamworth courthouse on Thursday. Photograph: AAP Grahame ruled out the initial police finding of suicide, noting that a towel was placed under Mark’s head. She found a theory about the possible involvement of local boxer Eddie Davis to be an “unsubstantiated rumour”, but that Mark’s close friend Glenn Mannion likely knew more about what happened that night. Mannion gave evidence at the inquest a